Measuring & Mapping

Vernier Compass

Where, how far, and how much? People have invented an astonishing array of devices to answer seemingly simple questions like these. Measuring and mapping objects in the Museum's collections include the instruments of the famous—Thomas Jefferson's thermometer and a pocket compass used by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark on their expedition across the American West. A timing device was part of the pioneering motion studies of Eadweard Muybridge in the late 1800s. Time measurement is represented in clocks from simple sundials to precise chronometers for mapping, surveying, and finding longitude. Everyday objects tell part of the story, too, from tape measures and electrical meters to more than 300 scales to measure food and drink. Maps of many kinds fill out the collections, from railroad surveys to star charts.

Minimum Thermometer

Alcohol-in-glass Rutherford-type thermometer mounted on a white porcelain plate marked "NEGRETTI & ZAMBRA, SCIENTIFIC INST. MAKERS, LONDON" with the N/Z monogram of the firm, and "24" with the M/O monogram of the British Meteorological Office.
Description
Alcohol-in-glass Rutherford-type thermometer mounted on a white porcelain plate marked "NEGRETTI & ZAMBRA, SCIENTIFIC INST. MAKERS, LONDON" with the N/Z monogram of the firm, and "24" with the M/O monogram of the British Meteorological Office. This plate is graduated every 5 degrees Fahrenheit from -20 to +110. The stem is marked "24" and with the N/Z and M/O monograms; and is graduated (but not numbered) every degree F. from -21 to +112. The whole is mounted on a wooden base with metal guards for the bulb. There are also two metal loops so that it can be hung horizontally.
Negretti & Zambra claimed that they were "the first to introduce into extensive use thermometer and barometer scale-plates made of porcelain, having the divisions and figures engraved thereon by means of fluoric acid, and permanently burnt-in and blackened so as always to present a clear legible scale" that would not be affected by sea water or by atmospheric conditions.
Ref.: Negretti & Zambra, A Treatise on Meteorological Instruments (London, 1864), pp. 65 and 76.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
after 1850
maker
Negretti & Zambra
ID Number
PH.317470
accession number
230396
catalog number
317470

Waywiser

This waywiser has a wooden frame and a dial of silvered brass with the usual scales, one for poles and furlongs and the other for miles. A small inset dial divided into 100 sections keeps a talley in terms of links of a chain.
Description
This waywiser has a wooden frame and a dial of silvered brass with the usual scales, one for poles and furlongs and the other for miles. A small inset dial divided into 100 sections keeps a talley in terms of links of a chain. The "Heath & Wing LONDON" signature refers to Thomas Heath and Tycho Wing who worked together during the period 1751–1773.
Ref: Gloria Clifton, Directory of British Scientific Instrument Makers 1550–1851 (London, 1995), p. 131.
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Heath & Wing
ID Number
PH.318294
catalog number
318294
accession number
233468

Locke Level (binocular)

In 1886 William Gurley obtained a patent (#353,406) for a Locke level with the vial inside the telescope tube.
Description
In 1886 William Gurley obtained a patent (#353,406) for a Locke level with the vial inside the telescope tube. He described it as "a short, compact, cheap, durable, efficient, easily adjustable, and well–incased telescopic leveling–instrument, having a very large and clear field, and requiring but one eye to be used by an engineer or surveyor in quickly taking preliminary or approximate levels with the instrument held by hand." Maria Gurley, William's wife and executrix of his estate, obtained a patent (#360,805) for a binocular version of this instrument in 1887. Here the tube on the right holds the usual lenses of an opera glass, while the tube on the left holds the level vial, prism, and cross wires of the level. The monocular was soon selling for $12, and the binocular for $15, and both remained on the market for about 30 years. The Interstate Commerce Commission transferred this example to the Smithsonian in 1962. The inscription reads "W. & L. E. GURLEY TROY N. Y."
Ref: W. & L. E. Gurley, A Manual of the Principal Instruments Used in American Engineering and Surveying (Troy, N.Y., 1893), pp. 225–226.
Location
Currently not on view
maker
W. & L. E. Gurley
ID Number
PH.321741
catalog number
321741
accession number
246883

Vertical Circle

This is one of several Gambey instruments that the U. S. Coast Survey acquired in the mid-1840s. It is heavy, stable, and precise. The circle itself is silvered, finely graduated (probably to 5 minutes), and read by opposite verniers and magnifiers.
Description
This is one of several Gambey instruments that the U. S. Coast Survey acquired in the mid-1840s. It is heavy, stable, and precise. The circle itself is silvered, finely graduated (probably to 5 minutes), and read by opposite verniers and magnifiers. The signature reads "Gambey a Paris." The "U S C & G S NO 21" inscription must have been added after 1878, when the Coast Survey became the Coast and Geodetic Survey.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1840s
maker
Gambey, Henri Prudence
ID Number
PH.314631
accession number
208213
catalog number
314631

Thermometer

Mercury-in-glass thermometer with a constriction in the stem above the cylindrical bulb. The milk-white back is marked "J. HICKS. 8 Hatton Garden. London" and "217112." The clear front is marked "HICKS' PATENT No.
Description
Mercury-in-glass thermometer with a constriction in the stem above the cylindrical bulb. The milk-white back is marked "J. HICKS. 8 Hatton Garden. London" and "217112." The clear front is marked "HICKS' PATENT No. 4434" and "FAHRT" and graduated every degree Fahrenheit from -40 to +140. It is equipped with a metal carrying case. It was made after Hicks began working at 8 Hatton Garden in 1864 and before the expansion of his business to 8, 9, & 10 Hatton Garden in the 1880s.
Location
Currently not on view
maker
J. J. Hicks
ID Number
PH.317448
accession number
230396
catalog number
317448

Solar Radiation Thermometer

Mercury-in-glass thermometer with a brass collar at the lower end of the tube. The milk white scale is marked “Centigrade” and “J. Salleron 24 Rue Pavee (au Marais) Paris” and carries a scale extending from -20 to +82 degrees Centigrade.
Description
Mercury-in-glass thermometer with a brass collar at the lower end of the tube. The milk white scale is marked “Centigrade” and “J. Salleron 24 Rue Pavee (au Marais) Paris” and carries a scale extending from -20 to +82 degrees Centigrade. The protective glass tube is marked “1 26.”
Jules Salleron began manufacturing precision instruments in 1855, moved to the address on this thermometer in 1860, and won top honors, especially for his meteorological instruments, at international exhibitions in the 1870s. Now trading as Dujardin-Salleron Laboratoires, the firm specializes in precision instruments applied to oenology.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1870-1900
maker
Salleron, Jules
ID Number
PH.317458
catalog number
317458
accession number
230396

Heliotrope (Steinheil)

The Fauth company advertised an instrument of this sort in 1883, describing it as "Pocket Heliotrope, Steinheils, a beautiful instrument that requires no adjustment." Karl August Steinheil was a German physicist who introduced the form in 1844.This example is marked “FAUTH & CO.
Description
The Fauth company advertised an instrument of this sort in 1883, describing it as "Pocket Heliotrope, Steinheils, a beautiful instrument that requires no adjustment." Karl August Steinheil was a German physicist who introduced the form in 1844.
This example is marked “FAUTH & CO. WASHN D.C. 2493" and "238" and "C.&G.S." and "NO. 418.” It belonged to the U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey. New, with case, it cost $20. It was made after 1887 when G. N. Saegmuller began putting serial numbers on Fauth instruments, and before Saegmuller's move to Rochester in 1905.
Ref: Fauth & Co., Catalogue of Astronomical and Surveying Instruments (Washington, D.C., 1883), p. 53.
K.A. Steinheil, "Das Heliotrop," in H. C. Schumacher, ed., Jahrbuch für 1844, pp. 12 17.
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Fauth & Co.
ID Number
PH.309655
accession number
106954
catalog number
309655

Minimum Thermometer

Spirit-in-glass Rutherford-type thermometer mounted on a heavy metal plate marked "HENRY J. GREEN NEW YORK" and "1924." A white porcelain strip on the plate is graduated every 5 degrees Fahrenheit from -85 to +75. The stem is graduated every degree F. from -90 to +110.
Description
Spirit-in-glass Rutherford-type thermometer mounted on a heavy metal plate marked "HENRY J. GREEN NEW YORK" and "1924." A white porcelain strip on the plate is graduated every 5 degrees Fahrenheit from -85 to +75. The stem is graduated every degree F. from -90 to +110. It was made between 1885 and 1890 when Henry J. Green was in business on his own in New York.
John Rutherford, a Scottish country doctor, devised this form in 1790. Green stated in 1900 that it was "the only one in general use." It has a black index inside the tube. "On a decrease of temperature the alcohol recedes, taking with it the glass index; on an increase of temperature the alcohol alone ascends the tube, leaving the end of the index farthest from the bulb indicating the minimum temperature."
Ref.: Henry J. Green, Meteorological and Scientific Instruments (Brooklyn, 1900), p. 23.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1885-1890
maker
H. J. Green
ID Number
PH.317464
accession number
230396
catalog number
317464

Rude Star Finder

Like the original Rude star finder, this one consists of cardboard planispheres of the northern and southern skies, each of which has a plastic meridian arm for determining the declination of the stars.
Description
Like the original Rude star finder, this one consists of cardboard planispheres of the northern and southern skies, each of which has a plastic meridian arm for determining the declination of the stars. Here, however, the rims of the planispheres are graduated to 3 minutes of time, and there are seven clear plastic altitude-azimuth templates for use at different latitudes up to 70° north and south. In addition, the planispheres rotate against a circle graduated to 365 parts, thus facilitating the comparison of civial and sidereal time. This feature was designed by Navy Captain Henry M. Jensen; John Edward Gingrich, a graduate of the Naval Academy who compiled Aerial and Marine Navigation Tables (New York, 1931) and who would later become a Rear Admiral; and Guillermo Medina, an engineer with the United States Hydrographic Office. The Hydrographic Office transferred this example to the Smithsonian in 1957.
The instrument bears the inscription "H.O. 2102 A / RUDE STAR FINDER AND IDENTIFIER / WITH HYDROGRAPHIC MODIFICATIONS / AND SIDEREAL TIME CONVERTER / Letters Patent / No. 1401446 December 27, 1921 / No. 1919222 July 25, 1933 / Washington, D.C.: Published December 1932, at the Hydrographic Office, under the authority of the SECRETARY OF THE NAVY, SECOND EDITION, JANUARY 1934 / Price $7.50."
Ref: Gilbert T. Rude, "Star Finder and Identifier," U.S. patent #1,401,446.
Henry M. Jensen, J. E. Gingrich, and G. Medina, "Navigational Instrument," U.S. patent #1,919,222.
“Captain Rude, Naval Inventor,” Washington Post (Dec. 5, 1962), p. B13.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1934
ID Number
PH.315071.1
catalog number
315071.1
accession number
214422

Hygrometer

The 1901 Factory and Works Act established precise limits as to the amount of water vapor that would be allowed in British industrial settings.
Description
The 1901 Factory and Works Act established precise limits as to the amount of water vapor that would be allowed in British industrial settings. These limits were especially important in coal mines where some water could lessen the chance of explosions, but too much water could lead to medical problems for the miners.
This hygrometer was made to measure humidity in mines, and may have been used in West Virginia. The inscription reads: "John Davis & Son (Derby) Ltd. No. 443 Derby & London. Reg No. 518758." This was an English firm that specialized in mathematical and other instruments for the mining industry.
Ref.: Henry Davis, "The Application of the Hygrometer in Coal Mines," Transactions of the Institute of Mining Engineers 35 (1907-1908): 285-290.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1925-1950
maker
Davis Derby Ltd.
ID Number
PH.321863
catalog number
321863
accession number
244292

Minimum Thermometer

Alcohol-in-glass, Rutherford-type thermometer. Its silvered brass plate is marked "H. J. GREEN B'KLYN. N.Y." and "U.S. WEATHER BUREAU" and "MINIMUM" and graduated every degree Fahrenheit from -90 to +110.
Description
Alcohol-in-glass, Rutherford-type thermometer. Its silvered brass plate is marked "H. J. GREEN B'KLYN. N.Y." and "U.S. WEATHER BUREAU" and "MINIMUM" and graduated every degree Fahrenheit from -90 to +110. The stem has similar graduations.
John Rutherford, a Scottish country doctor, devised this form in 1790. Green stated in 1900 that it was "the only one in general use." It has a black index inside the tube. "On a decrease of temperature the alcohol recedes, taking with it the glass index; on an increase of temperature the alcohol alone ascends the tube, leaving the end of the index farthest from the bulb indicating the minimum temperature."
Location
Currently not on view
date made
after 1890
maker
H. J. Green
ID Number
PH.317459
accession number
230396
catalog number
317459

Thermometer

Alcohol-in-glass thermometer with a long cylindrical bulb. The milk white back of the tube is marked “Thermomètre Baudin No.
Description
Alcohol-in-glass thermometer with a long cylindrical bulb. The milk white back of the tube is marked “Thermomètre Baudin No. 15774 gradué d’apres l’Échelle Normale Internationale (1902.9).” The scale on the front of the tube extends from -70.0 to +30.0 degrees, graduated in fifths. There is a safety bulge at the top of the tube.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1900
maker
Baudin
ID Number
PH.317453
catalog number
317453
accession number
230396

Thermometer

Mercury-in-glass thermometer with a cylindrical bulb. A paper scale extends from -16 to +60 Centigrade, marked in degrees; it is marked “No. 6563” and “U.S.W.B.” and “Phila. Thermo. Co.” The whole is enclosed in an outer tube.Currently not on view
Description
Mercury-in-glass thermometer with a cylindrical bulb. A paper scale extends from -16 to +60 Centigrade, marked in degrees; it is marked “No. 6563” and “U.S.W.B.” and “Phila. Thermo. Co.” The whole is enclosed in an outer tube.
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Philadelphia Thermometer Co.
ID Number
PH.317454
catalog number
317454
accession number
230396

Azimuth Circle

The "GREGORY, No. 148 near the India House, LONDON" inscription on this azimuth circle refers to Henry Gregory (fl.
Description
The "GREGORY, No. 148 near the India House, LONDON" inscription on this azimuth circle refers to Henry Gregory (fl. 1744-1782), a mathematical instrument maker who worked at "The Azimuth Compass, near East India House, Leadenhall St., London."
Ref: Gloria Clifton, Directory of British Scientific Instrument Makers 1550-1851 (London, 1995), p. 119.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
late 18th century
18th century
maker
Henry Gregory
ID Number
PH.319773
catalog number
319773
accession number
239771

Azimuth Mirror

William Thomson described a new "Marine Azimuth Mirror" at the 1877 meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, and patented the design in Britain and the U.S.
Description
William Thomson described a new "Marine Azimuth Mirror" at the 1877 meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, and patented the design in Britain and the U.S. This instrument is an example of the improved design, with a reflecting prism in place of the original mirror. Thomson introduced this form in the early 1880s. The signature indicates that it was made during the period 1900-1913. The base bears the inscriptions "KELVIN & JAMES WHITE, LIMITED. GLASGOW" and "LORD KELVIN’S (SIR WM THOMSON) PATENTS No 5713." The U.S. Coast & Geodetic Survey transferred the instrument to the Smithsonian in 1929.
Ref: William Thomson, "Device for Taking Azimuths," U.S. Patent #210,068.
William Thomson, "Azimuth Instrument," U.S. Patent #402,364.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
early 20th century
maker
Kelvin & James White, Ltd.
ID Number
PH.309653
catalog number
309653
accession number
106954

Minimum Thermometer

Rutherford-type alcohol-in-glass thermometer with a cylindrical bulb, black dumbbell index, and double tube. The back of the tube is marked “Patent No. 4434” and [symbol of the Kew Observatory] and “10085” and “No.
Description
Rutherford-type alcohol-in-glass thermometer with a cylindrical bulb, black dumbbell index, and double tube. The back of the tube is marked “Patent No. 4434” and [symbol of the Kew Observatory] and “10085” and “No. 84120.” The front of the tube carries a scale that extends from -25 to +130 graduated in degrees Fahrenheit. A milk-white plate inside the tube facilitates reading.
The referenced British patent, issued to James Webster of London in late 1875, described a clinical thermometer enclosed in a transparent glass tube designed to protect “the divisions, figures, and markings from injury or obliteration.” This example was probably made in Britain, and probably designed for meteorological or chemical use. It came to the Smithsonian from the U.S. Weather Bureau.
Ref: Great Britain Patent Office, Chronological and Descriptive Index of Patents Applied For (London 1876), p. 926.
Great Britain Patent Office, Abridgements of Specifications. Class 92 (London, 1904), p. 125.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1875-1900
ID Number
PH.317469
catalog number
317469
accession number
230396

Maximum Thermometer

Mercury-in-glass thermometer so designed that an air bubble separates a small bit of mercury from the main part of the column.
Description
Mercury-in-glass thermometer so designed that an air bubble separates a small bit of mercury from the main part of the column. When the instrument is mounted horizontally, the detached mercury remains in place when the rest of the column falls, thereby indicating the maximum temperature. John Phillips, an English geologist, introduced the form at the 1832 meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science.
The bulb is spherical. The tube has a milk white back; the scale on the front extends from -30 to +110, graduated by degrees, The supporting metal plate is marked "Taylor, Rochester, N.Y." and "U.S.W.B." and "No.43191" and "MAXIMUM."
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1910-1960
maker
Taylor Instrument Co.
ID Number
PH.317473
catalog number
317473
accession number
230396

Water Current Meter

Julien John Révy, an Austrian civil engineer living in England, designed this type of meter for his survey of the Panama and Uruguay rivers in South America begun in 1870. In his report on this project, Révy noted that “Messrs.
Description
Julien John Révy, an Austrian civil engineer living in England, designed this type of meter for his survey of the Panama and Uruguay rivers in South America begun in 1870. In his report on this project, Révy noted that “Messrs. Elliott Bros., of London, made our meters, and are acquainted with all requirements: they charge about ten guineas for the complete instrument.”
Elliott Bros. showed a Révy current meter at the Special Loan Collection of Scientific Instruments held in London in 1876, noting that it was made “for measuring the velocity of currents in large rivers.” The Elliotts went on to explain that “The spherical boss is so determined that it will displace just as much water, as to weight, as will balance the weight of all the parts which are fixed to the spindle, so as to reduce friction to a minimum. Although the apparatus is covered with glass, it has to be filled, before using it, with pure water to establish similarity of pressure inside and outside. After every experiment the water is removed and the spindle thoroughly dried.”
This example came to the Smithsonian in 1955, a transfer from the U.S. Coast & Geodetic Survey. The dial is marked “ELLIOTT BROS LONDON” and the propeller shaft housing is marked “U. S. C. & G. S. NO. 1.” It has no glass cover. It may be the Révy meter that H. L. Marindin, a Coast Survey hydrographer, reported using in 1877.
Ref: J. J. Révy, Hydraulics of Great Rivers (London and New York, 1874), pp. 155-160 and plate VIII.
Catalogue of the Special Loan Collection of Scientific Apparatus (London, 1876), p. 77.
H. L. Marindin, “Description of an Apparatus Devised for Observing Currents in Connection with the Physical Survey of the Mississippi River,” Report of the Superintendent of the United States Coast Survey Showing the Progress of the work for the Fiscal Year Ending with June, 1877 (Washington, D.C., 1880), Appendix 9.
Arthur H. Frazier, Water Current Meters in the Smithsonian Collections of the National Museum of History and Technology (Washington, D.C., 1974), pp. 50-51.
date made
ca 1875
maker
Elliott Brothers
ID Number
PH.314637
accession number
208213
catalog number
314637

Repsold Universal Instrument

This universal instrument is marked "A. Repsold & Sohne, Hamburg, 1874" and "U S C S No. 17." The U. S. Coast Survey bought it in 1874, just a few years after Cleveland Abbe had introduced Americans to the similar instrument that he had seen at the Pulkova Observatory in Russia.
Description
This universal instrument is marked "A. Repsold & Sohne, Hamburg, 1874" and "U S C S No. 17." The U. S. Coast Survey bought it in 1874, just a few years after Cleveland Abbe had introduced Americans to the similar instrument that he had seen at the Pulkova Observatory in Russia. Abbe noted that it "offers itself to us as an instrument equally applicable in all latitudes to the determination of latitude, and fit for the determination of time for secondary stations between 70 deg; of latitude and the equator, if accurately constructed as by Repsold, and used so as to eliminate constant or systematic errors. By reason of the ease with which it is put in position, and the brightness of the stars observed, as well as by the accuracy of its divided circles, level and microscopes, there is no time lost nor money expended in building stations, nor in waiting for nightfall, nor in tedious repetition of observations." The instrument that Abbe described had two vertical circles; the Coast Survey instrument has only one.
Johann Georg Repsold (1771–1830) established a small shop in Hamburg around 1799 and began making precision instruments for astronomy and geodesy. In 1831, shortly after Repsold's death, his sons Georg (1804–1885) and Adolf (1806–1871) began trading as A. & G. Repsold. In 1867, when Georg retired and Adolf's two sons joined the firm, the name was changed to A. Repsold & Sohne. In his 1882 price list of important astronomical instruments, Elias Loomis noted that "Astronomical instruments of the first class are made by several other manufacturers in Europe, particularly by A. Repsold and Son, of Hamburg, Germany; but the latter firm does not publish a catalogue, and it is necessary to make a special contract for such instruments as may be required." This problem notwithstanding, Repsold instruments were fairly well known in the United States. The Repsold firm came to an end in 1919.
Refs: Cleveland Abbe, "The Repsold Portable Vertical Circle," American Journal of Science 43 (1867): 207–216, 309–315.
Elias Loomis, An Introduction to Practical Astronomy (New York, 1882), p. 505.
J. A. Repsold, Vermehrte Nachrichten über die Familie Repsold (1896).
Location
Currently not on view
maker
A. Repsold & Sohne
ID Number
PH.316511
accession number
225703
catalog number
316511

Minimum Thermometer

Alcohol-in-glass Rutherford-type thermometer mounted on a grooved metal plate that is marked "H. J. GREEN B'KLYN, N.Y." and "No. 8727 U.S. WEATHER BUREAU" and "MINIMUM" and graduated every 5 degrees F. from -30 to +110.
Description
Alcohol-in-glass Rutherford-type thermometer mounted on a grooved metal plate that is marked "H. J. GREEN B'KLYN, N.Y." and "No. 8727 U.S. WEATHER BUREAU" and "MINIMUM" and graduated every 5 degrees F. from -30 to +110. The stem is graduated every degree Fahrenheit from -39 to +110.
John Rutherford, a Scottish country doctor, devised this form in 1790. Green stated in 1900 that it was "the only one in general use." It has a black index inside the tube. "On a decrease of temperature the alcohol recedes, taking with it the glass index; on an increase of temperature the alcohol alone ascends the tube, leaving the end of the index farthest from the bulb indicating the minimum temperature."
Ref.: Henry J. Green, Meteorological and Scientific Instruments (Brooklyn, 1900), p. 23.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1900-1960
maker
H. J. Green
ID Number
PH.317462
accession number
230396
catalog number
317462

Rude Star Finder (2102-D)

This consists of a white plastic planisphere with the northern sky on one side and the southern on the other; nine clear plastic altitude-azimuth templates for use at different latitudes up to 5o north and south; a clear plastic meridian angle diagram; and a cardboard container.
Description
This consists of a white plastic planisphere with the northern sky on one side and the southern on the other; nine clear plastic altitude-azimuth templates for use at different latitudes up to 5o north and south; a clear plastic meridian angle diagram; and a cardboard container. It is based on the Rude form, as modified in the early 1940s by Elmer Collins of the United States Hydrographic Office. It was published by the Hydrographic Office and sold for $4.00. The Hydrographic Office transferred it to the Smithsonian in 1957. The instrument bears the inscription "NO. 2102-D / STAR FINDER AND IDENTIFIER / PATENT NOS. 2304797, 2337545."
Ref: G. T. Rude, Star Finder and Identifier," U.S. patent #1,401,446
H. M. Jensen, et. al., "Navigational Instrument," U.S. patent #1,919,222
Elmer B. Collins, "Star Finder," U.S. patent #2,304,797
Elmer B. Collins, "Star Finder," U.S. patent #2,337,545
Nathaniel Bowditch, American Practical Navigator (Washington, D.C.: United States Hydrographic Office, 1962), pp. 586-589.
"Elmer B. Collins," Washington Post (2 October 1958), p. B2.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1950
ID Number
PH.315071.4
catalog number
315071.4
accession number
214422
maker number
2012-D

Surveyor's Compass

The inscriptions on this compass read "S. Kern Inventor" and "J. S.
Description
The inscriptions on this compass read "S. Kern Inventor" and "J. S. Danner Maker, Middletown, Va." On July 31, 1846, Samuel Kern of Strasburg, Va., obtained a patent (#4,675) for an instrument meant to be "at once cheap and efficient, enabling one to use it as a compass for running lines, or for leveling, as may be required." A trough compass, level vial, and outkeeper are inset into the face. The edge of the face is graduated to 30 minutes, and numbered in quadrants from north and south. Jacob Sensensy Danner (1807-1877) lived in Middletown, Va., and made instruments for surveyors.
Ref: Charles Smart, The Makers of Surveying Instruments in America Since 1700 (Troy, N.Y., 1962), p. 35.
Location
Currently not on view
inventor
Kern, Samuel
maker
Danner, Jacob Sensensy
ID Number
PH.312873
catalog number
312873
accession number
170227

Alidade

This brass alidade has folding sights that are centered on its beveled edge. The U. S. Bureau of Education transferred it to the Smithsonian in 1910. The "E.
Description
This brass alidade has folding sights that are centered on its beveled edge. The U. S. Bureau of Education transferred it to the Smithsonian in 1910. The "E. LUTZ PARIS" inscriptiion refers to Edouard Lutz, an instrument maker who worked in the second half of the 19th century.
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Lutz, Edouard
ID Number
PH.313396
catalog number
313396
accession number
51116

Rude Star Finder (2102-C)

This star finder, designed for aeronautical use, was based on the Rude form as modified by Elmer Collins of the United States Hydrographic Office.
Description
This star finder, designed for aeronautical use, was based on the Rude form as modified by Elmer Collins of the United States Hydrographic Office. It consists of a white plastic planisphere with the northern sky on one side and the southern on the other that shows all the stars in the American and the British Air Almanacs; nine clear plastic altitude-azimuth templates for use at different latitudes up to 85° north and south; an instruction card; and a leatherette container. It was published in March 1942 under the authority of the Secretary of the Navy, and cost $2.50. The Hydrographic Office transferred this example to the Smithsonian in 1957. The instrument bears the inscription "No. 2102-C / A-N TYPE 1 / STAR FINDER AND IDENTIFIER / PATENT Nos. 2304797 - 2337545 / U.S. NAVY HYDROGRAPHIC OFFICE."
Ref: Elmer B. Collins, "Star Finder," U.S. patent #2,304,797
Elmer B. Collins, "Star Finder," U.S. patent #2,337,545
Nathaniel Bowditch, American Practical Navigator (Washington, D.C.: Unted States Hydrographic Office, 1943), pp. 212-214.
"Elmer B. Collins," Washington Post (2 October 1958), p. B2.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1942
ID Number
PH.315071.3
catalog number
315071.3
accession number
214422

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